An Investigation into the Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Prosocial Tendencies and Machiavellianism

O'Donoghue, Jennifer
(2018)
An Investigation into the Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Prosocial Tendencies and Machiavellianism.
Undergraduate thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

Abstract

The link between emotional intelligence and prosocial behaviour has been greatly investigated, however research into the possible negative uses of emotional intelligence have not received such attention. This study seeks to investigate the association between emotional intelligence and prosocial tendencies & Machiavellianism. This research consists of a cross-sectional, observational research design to measure quantitative data. Three measures were used to quantify each variable: prosocial tendencies (PTM), emotional intelligence (Schutte Self-Report Inventory), and Machiavellianism (MACH-IV). The three questionnaires were shared on Google forms, alongside a disclaimer form and a consent form explaining the rationale for the research and any additional information the participant may require. Participants were also asked to provide some basic demographic information about themselves for descriptive statistics, such as age, sex, occupation and community type (i.e. rural vs. urban). Participants (n = 105) were recruited using snowball sampling through social media, and were aged 18 and over. Statistical analysis consisted of two simple correlations to investigate the nature of the relationship between emotional intelligence and prosocial tendencies (r = .33) and Machiavellianism (r = -.35). Correlation was followed by two linear regression analyses, where the predictor variable was EI score and the criterion variables were prosocial tendencies and Machiavellianism scores, respectively.